Weekend earthquakes in Oklahoma likely unrelated to oil, gas activity

OKLAHOMA CITY — Weekend earthquakes that rattled the Oklahoma City area do not appear to be related to oil and gas industry activity, officials said Tuesday.

The metro area experienced 19 earthquakes between Friday and Sunday, according to the Oklahoma Geological Survey. The quakes’ epicenter was near Edmond.

The largest was a magnitude 4.3 at 9:46 p.m. Friday.

In response to the temblors, the Oklahoma Corporation Commission looked at whether oil and gas wastewater disposal into the Arbuckle formation, the state’s deepest disposal zone, and hydraulic fracturing could have triggered the quakes, said Matt Skinner, an agency spokesperson.

“There is no disposal of oil and gas wastewater into the Arbuckle formation,” Skinner said. “We shut it down years ago. There is no hydraulic fracturing in the area.”

The Oklahoma Corporation Commission is still doing research into the quakes, Skinner said.

State Seismologist Jake Walter, of the Oklahoma Geological Survey, said while there is “no smoking gun” that these were caused by oil and gas activity, the fault line had been activated in the past due to Arbuckle disposal practices.

Meanwhile, earthquake coverage is not standard with insurance policies, said Oklahoma Insurance Commissioner Glen Mulready.

Homeowners might want a contractor to evaluate the damage to see if it exceeds the deductible, he said.

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